Here's What The Grazia Digital Team Will Be Reading This Summer

Blame Netflix and its seamless ‘next episode’ segue, blame our diminished attention spans, blame whatever you like: however good our intentions, it’s often books we let slide when we're attempting to stay on top of the culture treadmill - until the sunnier weather arrives. Whether you’re lazing by the lido, hitting the beach, killing time on a long-haul flight or simply all out of iPhone battery in the departure lounge, there’s no better time for tackling a mounting ‘to read’ pile than summer. From a new short story collection to old favourites ripe for re-visiting, page turning thrillers to modern love stories and personal essays, these are the holiday reads that Grazia’s digital team will be packing in their hand luggage…

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Crudo, Olivia Laing (Picador, £12.99

Olivia Laing's non-fiction can make the most melancholy of subjects utterly compelling (chronic loneliness in The Lonely City, writers and alcoholism in The Trip To Echo Spring) so I look forward to reading her debut novel, Crudo. Written in just seven weeks, it retreads the tumultuous political events of last summer in real time from the perspective of a hybrid narrator, who is part experimental writer Kathy Acker, part Laing herself. Katie Rosseinsky

Crudo, Olivia Laing (Picador, £12.99

Olivia Laing's non-fiction can make the most melancholy of subjects utterly compelling (chronic loneliness in The Lonely City, writers and alcoholism in The Trip To Echo Spring) so I look forward to reading her debut novel, Crudo. Written in just seven weeks, it retreads the tumultuous political events of last summer in real time from the perspective of a hybrid narrator, who is part experimental writer Kathy Acker, part Laing herself. Katie Rosseinsky

Feel Free, Zadie Smith (Hamish Hamilton, £20)

Zadie Smith could write a series of treatises on GDPR regulations and I'd probably still clamor to read it. While I wait for her next novel (a historical piece that's yet to receive a firm release date), I'll be catching up on Feel Free, her most recent collection of essays, which sees her tackle everything from Brexit to Bieber, via Jay-Z and Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning film Get Out. Katie Rosseinsky

You Think It, I'll Say It, Curtis Sittenfeld (Penguin, £16.99)

I love Curtis Sittenfeld's sprawling novels about Middle Class American Problems (if you've been put off the likes of Prep, American Wife and Eligible by the very '90s stock images that grace her UK covers, you're missing out), so I look forward to reading this, her debut collection of short stories. The 10 tales promise to bring Sittenfeld's usual territory (relationships, class, money) into the contemporary moment, covering everything from hate-following lifestyle bloggers (guilty) to the Clinton campaign. Never one to sleep on a potential hit, Reese Witherspoon has already optioned it, and plans to turn the collection into a TV series starring Kristen Wiig. Katie Rosseinsky

Royal biographies are a mixed bag, but this one is a delight. Craig Brown zips through his 99 'glimpses' of the Queen's younger sister with a deft touch that captures the humour and the pathos in this most scandalous of royal lives, mixing parody, speculation (what if Margaret had become Mrs. Peter Townsend? And what would a Queen's speech delivered in her notorious barbed style have sounded like?) and hard facts. I'm sure I'll revisit it before the summer is out: it's perfect sun lounger material, even if you're not holidaying on Mustique. Katie Rosseinsky

What A Time To Be Alone: The Slumflower's Guide To Why You Are Already Enough, Chidera Eggerue (Quadrille, £12.99)

This is the first book I've seen people talking about on Twitter and thought, 'you should read that'. Strong start, I know. But seriously, I'm obsessed with the Slumflower's Twitter, which is essentially a Kanye-style Twitter book of amazing quotes, so if I was going to ever read a self-help style book it would be hers.The title alone, as the resident 'but being single is so much more fun!' in my friend group, sold it to me, but it's also the daily reminder that self-worth comes from within - something that is so necessary at this time of year- that I'm excited for.Georgia Aspinall

Into The Water, Paula Hawkins (Black Swan, £7.99)

I'm not going to sit here and lie to you, I am absolutely terrible at reading books. What used to be my favourite thing to do as a child has long been replaced by Netflix mini-series'. How do I survive on planes, you ask? I listen to Drake and overthink. It's not ideal.Alas, I have endeavoured to change my ways this summer and read all of the books my friends have been recommending to me to, first of which is Into The Water because I'm very much convinced it will sell reading as a hobby back to me after years of neglect. Why? Not only is it a Sunday Times bestseller (that means it's good, right?), it's from the author of The GirlOn The Train. I've watched the film, and the book is always better than the film, so I trust the book was great, ergo, I trust the author is great (if that sentence doesn't tell you how much of a reading novice I am, what will?) Essentially, 'lots of twists and turns' was enough of a sell from my friend to convince me it will be good. Georgia Aspinall

Heartburn, Nora Ephron (Virago, £9.99)

I'm saving this one for the end of Summer (so, now?) because it was written in 1983 and that alone stresses me out. I barely even watch films from before the 90's (peak millennial quote) so my absolutely baseless conclusion is that this will be harder to read. That being said, my book-obsessed (and English literature graduate) friend has recommended it so many times that I know it's a must-read. Apparently, the autobiography of Nora Ephron's life – focusing on her marriage and divorce from her second husbands- is 'so funny and human and compassionate', that my friend, like Nigella Lawson, jumps to endorse it at any opportunity.Georgia Aspinall

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak (Transworld, £8.99)

Some people might say this is a bit heavy for a holiday read but it's been one of my favourite books to re-visit for years and I stand by the deep, emotional novels being perfectly acceptable 'on the beach' material. It's a fantastically constructed and heartbreaking story, narrated by Death, about Liesel, a young girl who moves in with foster parents in Nazi Germany and develops a love of reading. It's brilliantly sad, and beats reading a book about someone else's holiday while you too are on holiday.Jazmin Kopotsha

Ordinary People, Diana Evans (Chatto & Windus, £14.99)

If you're bored of the same old, typically unrealistic romances, give Ordinary People a try. It follows the stories of two young couples against the backdrop of London as we truly know it. The cost of relationship compromise, the evolving definition of black identity and John Legend's song by the same name all feature heavily. It's sad, it's funny, it's melodic and, I hate to say it, it's very #relatable.Jazmin Kopotsha

Social Creature, Tara Elizabeth Burton (Raven Books, £12.99)

This is at the top of my 'Read Next' list. From what I've skim read online and of the blurb in anticipation, Social Creature sounds like the sort of story that'll hit home as hard as it'll entertain if you've ever experienced a dramatic financial disparity between yourself and any of your wealthier friends. High stakes, high drama and a dubious taste of the lavish New York lifestyle we've all dreamt of at least once.Jazmin Kopotsha

I still haven't got round to reading this book by journalist Afua Hirsch which came out earlier this year, and a summer holiday is the perfect chance to do so. BRIT(ish) is about Britain's awkward relationship with its past and its current identity crisis – and is full of Afua's personal experiences, interviews and research.Phoebe Parke

I've already started reading this and love it so much that I'll be tucking the hardback into my suitcase this summer. The authors are two best friends, Yomi and Elizabeth, who interviewed 39 black British women – including BBC DJ Clara Amfo, ITV news journalist Charlene White and Olympic Gold medalist Denise Lewis – and documented their experiences and advice in one book. It's a history book full of the stories we were never taught, and it's a reassuring read for black British women who thought they were the only ones being treated a little differently while studying, working and dating in the UK.Phoebe Parke

Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie (Bloomsbury, £8.99)

Home Fire won the Women's Prize For Fiction this year (you will quickly realise I lazily downloaded most of the shortlist to save me making any decisions about what to read this year). An amazing look at what it means to be a Muslim in Britain in 2018.Rebecca Holman

The Mars Room, Rachel Kushner (Vintage, £16.99)

Just in time for the new season of Orange Is The New Black, Kushner takes on the American penal system in The Mars Room, which tells the story of Romy Hall, a stripper who finds herself serving two consecutive life sentences after killing the man who was stalking her. Articulate and likeable, Hall is the perfect guide into a broken and sobering system from which there is often no way out.Rebecca Holman

Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward (Bloomsbury, £16.99)

Another book shortlisted for the women's prize for fiction, this is an incredible feet of storytelling – weaving together a ghost story about poverty, race and death in Mississippi – and best binge read in a couple of sittings.Rebecca Holman

The Party, Elizabeth Day (Fourth Estate, £8.99)

The ultimate beach read - engrossing, just salacious enough, with the added bonus that you can definitely substitute the fictional Prime Minister and his chums for David Cameron and his Chipping Norton set for extra beachside lols.

I kept refusing to read this because everyone else was waving their copy around on the tube and on Instagram and going on about how ah-mazing it was. But I finally relented and it turns out they were right, and I was wrong. It's a truly ah-mazing, engrossing read that made me both cry and snort with laughter in the space of ten minutes.